Esotericism between Europe and East Asia

Autor(en)

Julian Strube

Abstrakt

Different understandings of “esoteric” are the main subject and the demarcation line of several fields of study. However, the history of this term is either neglected or distorted by specific historiographical paradigms. Tracing European writings on China and Japan from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, this article demonstrates that “esoteric” language was central to scholarship on Asia, shaping common terms that remain in use today. By showing how the emergence and development of an “esoteric distinction” between teachings and practices was linked to cross-cultural interpretation and translingual practices, the article argues that this distinction was not a mere projection of European concepts, but rather the result of cultural exchanges that need to be carefully studied on a case-by-case basis within their concrete historical contexts. To better understand the negotiations of what many today would call “esotericism,” a decentered historiography is needed that considers the global history of general terms.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Religionswissenschaft

Journal

Numen. International Review for the History of Religions

Band

71

Seiten

9–28

Anzahl der Seiten

20

ISSN

0029-5973

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1163/15685276-20231712

Publikationsdatum

12-2023

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

603909 Religionswissenschaft

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Religious studies, History

Link zum Portal

https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/de/publications/esotericism-between-europe-and-east-asia(7a7f2405-a563-4e11-b15a-7fb277a14b84).html